Benji Backer, a 25-year-old conservative from Wisconsin, was not pleased with a recent Republican presidential primary debate. The candidates either denied, ignored or downplayed the Fox moderator’s question on climate change. Backer is not alone…

“Newspapers are dead,” a solemn but dubious audience of students heard. “In 10 years, they’ll be gone altogether.” We’ve all heard the grim assessment. But it didn’t come this year, when corporate greed downsized far…

In 1969, soon after Dianne Feinstein first made history, a San Francisco newspaper published a bemused feature on her marriage. Headlined “The Big Man in Dianne’s Life,” it centered on her husband, Bert Feinstein, a…

A year after new president Ken Hush took a scythe to the faculty of Emporia State University, fall enrollment figures paint a bleak picture of what his “realignment” has done to what once was the…

Last spring, my tween was begging for more independence, starting with being allowed to walk home from school alone. The mile-plus walk involves crossing a few busy streets. I was hesitant; she doesn’t have a…

As perverse as it may sound, state-sponsored assassinations overseas are nothing new in the dirty world of international relations. Israel has conducted targeted killings against terrorists in multiple countries; in 2010, a team of Mossad…

A few years after relocating here from Pennsylvania, a friend of mine dove into home ownership. Being extremely knowledgeable and passionate about birding and gardening, she decided to convert part of her front yard into…

It was dark as I drove home after last night’s discussion at Iola Public Library. Hard to believe it’s already fall; the days are shorter, the pulsing scream of cicadas a mere memory. Just as…

Extreme heat causes thousands of unnecessary deaths each year in the United States. And due to climate change, heat waves are becoming more common. This summer, for example, Phoenix had a record 31 straight days…

Trust in institutions is declining, expectations for small business outcomes are diminishing and real household incomes are sinking; it is fair to say that Americans seem to be in a funk. The University of Michigan’s…